Bracket Experts Say UConn Is Tournament-Worthy, Talent-Wise

If Huskies Were Eligible, They'd Likely Qualify

This probably won't make the UConn basketball coaches, players or fans feel any better, but if the Huskies were eligible for the NCAA Tournament in March, they would be well on their way to making it.

"I actually evaluate UConn the same as any eligible team," said Joe Lunardi, ESPN's NCAA bracket analyst, "in part, part because these questions were inevitable. At this moment, I have them comfortably in the projected field and [seeded] in the low 30s on the S-Curve, so that's roughly an eight-nine game at this point. That's about where they've been throughout January."

But there will be no postseason for UConn (13-5, 3-3 Big East), ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, and all postseason events, because of past sub-par Academic Progress Rate scores.

Big East school presidents voted last March to follow the NCAA line and keep the Huskies from the conference tournament as well, and on Monday, speaking at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Cromwell, Big East commissioner Mike Aresco ruled out any possibility of changing that decision, though UConn officials have tried.

So the Huskies continue to play for pride, for respect, and to collect as many regular season wins as possible for whatever they are worth. Back in October, coach Kevin Ollie said he wanted teams to leave the court after playing UConn asking, "Why do they play so hard when they have no postseason?"

And that much, UConn seems to be accomplishing. Said Rutgers coach Mike Rice: "You can't tell, watching them on film [that they are ineligible], they play hard, they play with passion."

The Huskies snapped a two-game losing streak Sunday and put win No. 13 in the books, beating Rutgers 66-54 with a strong finish at the XL Center.

"You don't play to lose games," said Shabazz Napier, who made the Big East honor roll after finishing with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds in the game. "It probably hasn't hit a lot of guys that we're almost done. I think the guys understand that we're doing this for something bigger. We're doing this to get ready for next year. To get to the NCAA next year. It's tough not getting in this year, but this year is going to help us be stronger next year. To understand that, if we can fight through the things we're fighting through now, next year's going to be so much easier, because we're going to have a lot of guys still here."

As they plow through a season they know will end on March 9, with the regular season finale against Providence at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies can take pride in the resume they are assembling. Last year they qualified for the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed after finishing the regular season 18-12 and 8-10 in the Big East, and winning two games in the league tournament. This year, despite the loss of Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb, both NBA lottery picks, and Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith, who transferred, the Huskies might still win enough games to have qualified.

"They would be in the middle of the bracket," said Jerry Palm, bracket analyst for CBSSports.com, "like a 7 or an 8."

The Huskies are 28th in the most recent Ratings Percentage Index, one of the NCAA selection committee's tools, and their strength-of-schedule is ranked eighth in the country, with nonconference opponents Michigan State, New Mexico, North Carolina State and Washington adding credibility. They did not get any votes in The Associated Press or USA Today polls this week, though they were ranked as high as 21st early in the season.

Ken Pomeroy, who has his own power ratings system at kenpom.com, would also place the Huskies in the tournament mix.

"I have them at No. 45 right now," Pomeroy said. "That feels about right. Basically, they're a middle-of-the-pack Big East team, which in a normal year would put them on the bubble. As far as quality wins, the Michigan State and Notre Dame wins are the only thing I would label as quality, but that'll probably be better than some teams that get an at-large bid."

Instead, another bubble team, perhaps one of its Big East rivals, will get the bid that might've gone to UConn. This might not be much consolation on March 10, when the reality and emptiness sets in, but as Napier said after the Rutgers game, it could make players hungrier for a place at the table in 2014.

"Guys are going to want to work hard," Napier said, "and understand this may be the only time they get to go to the NCAA. Last year, even though we knew about the NCAA problems, guys didn't really understand it."